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Library  of  the 
University  of  North  Carolina 

Endowed  by  the  Dialectic  and  Philan- 
thropic Societies 


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t^-p  «  z. 


5ome 

North  Carolinians 

on  ELqual  Pay 


EEE 


"Every  measure  in  every  program  must  be 
tested  by  this  question,  and  this  question  only: 
Is  it  just,  is  it  for  the  benefit  of  the  average 
man,  without  influence  or  privilege;  does  it 
embody  in  real  fact  the  highest  conception  of 
social  justice  and  of  right  dealing,  without  re- 
spect of  person  or  class  or  particular  interest?" 
—  Woodrow   Wilson. 


SOME  NORTH  CAROLINIANS 
ON  EQUAL  PAY 

[Foreword. — Last  spring  the  writer,  who 
has  spent  her  life  in  the  class  room  and 
knows  very  few  of  the  prominent  men  and 
women  of  our  state,  sent  a  request  to  some 
of  our  influential  men  and  women  for  a 
statement  in  support  of  equal  pay  for  equal 
work.  Many  of  our  prominent  men  and 
women  failed  to  get  this  request  because  of 
the  writer's  ignorance  and  because  of  lack 
of  time.  The  women  of  the  state,  however, 
have  been  very  much  encouraged  by  the 
hearty  support  of  equal  pay  given  by  the 
men  and  women  whose  statements  appear  in 
this  pamphlet.  They  consider  this  a  most  en- 
couraging report.  The  men  and  women  who 
are  interested  in  the  educational  progress  of 
the  state  realize  that  they  cannot  secure  and 
keep  a  strong  enthusiastic  corps  of  teachers 
until  this  injustice  has  been  removed.  The 
women  teachers  have  been  much  encouraged 
by  the  frankness  with  which  men  in  all  pro- 
fessions and  vocations  acknowledge  the  in- 
justice of  unequal  pay,  and  by  the  earnest- 
ness with  which  they  pledge  themselves  to 
help  eradicate  this  evil.  The  teachers  wish 
to  use  this  opportunity  to  thank  each  con- 
tributor for  his  contribution. — Julia  Dame- 
ron.] 

NATIONAL    OFFICIALS 

I  take  pleasure  in  responding  to  your  re- 
quest for  a  statement  favoring  equal  pay  for 
equal  work  to  teachers  in  the  public  schools. 


I  do  this  the  more  readily  because  it  can  be 
done  in  few  words  as  well  as  in  many.  Pub- 
lic school  money  is  or  should  be  paid  only 
for  work  done.  The  price  paid  should  be 
based  solely  on  quantity  and  quality.  The 
personality  of  the  teacher  should  have  noth- 
ing whatever  to  do  with  it  except  as  this 
personality  may  affect  the  work  either  in 
quantity  or  quality.  If  a  woman  does  as 
good  work  as  a  man  and  does  as  much  of  it, 
then  she  should  be  paid  as  much.  If  she 
does  not  do  so  much  or  does  not  do  so  well, 
she  should  be  paid  less.  If  she  does  better 
or  does  more,  then  she  should  be  paid  more, 
r-  This  principle,  I  think,  applies  to  all  work 
of  whatever  kind.  When  we  understand  ful- 
ly that  money  is  paid  for  work  and  not  on 
the  basis  of  any  kind  of  favoritism  we  will 
act  on  this  subject  just  as  we  do  when  we 
buy  cloth  or  food  or  land  or  any  other  com- 
modity.— P.  P.  Claxton,  U.  S.  Commissioner 
of  Education,  April  24,  1918. 

I  am  in  entire  sympathy  with  the  state- 
wide campaign  for  better  schools,  higher 
salaries,  and  equal  pay  for  equal  work,  and 
I  wish  that  I  were  home  so  that  I  might 
take  a  more  active  part  in  the  good  work  in 
securing  these  essentials  for  our  state. — 
Josephus  Daniels,  Secretary  of  Navy,  May 
3,   1918. 

STATE   OFFICIALS 

Keplying  to  your  esteemed  favor  of  the 
5th,  I  beg  to  say  that  the  proposition  that 
"justice  requires  that  the  amount  of  com- 
pensation should  not  be  regulated  by  sex  but 
by  the  amount   of   service   rendered"   is   so 


manifestly  correct  as  to  require  no  support. 
My  own  opinion  is  that  the  salaries  of  all 
public  school  teachers  in  North  Carolina 
should  be  increased  at  least  50  per  cent. 
That  opinion  has  been  entertained  for  some 
time. 

I  would  be  glad  to  write  you  further,  but 
have  not  time  to  do  so  this  morning. — T.  W. 
Bidkett,  Governor  of  North  Carolina,  April 
8,  1918. 

I  can  see  no  valid  reason  for  discrimi- 
nation in  compensation  between  male  and 
female  teachers  when  there  is  no  difference 
in  the  ability,  fitness  and  character.  I 
know  that  the  women  teachers  of  North 
Carolina  are  doing  a  tremendous  work  for 
a  salary  totally  inadequate  and  insufficiemt, 
and  will  be  pleased  to  do  whatever  I  can 
towards  promoting  their  advancement. — 0. 
Max  Gardner,  Lieutenant  Governor  and  Pres- 
ident of  Senate,  Ealeigh,  April  12,  1918. 

It  gives  me  real  pleasure  to  make  the 
statement  for  publication  that  I  have  all 
my  life,  in  season  and  out  of  season,  with- 
out hesitation,  mental  reservation,  or  secret 
evasion  of  mind,  advocated  that  when  a 
woman  did  the  same  work  as  a  man  she 
should  be  paid  the  same  pay. 

It  is  one  of  the  few  questions  in  my  mind 
that  has  only  one  side,  and  I  can  assure 
you  that  if  the  case  ever  comes  up  when  I 
can  prove  my  faith  by  my  works  I  shall 
certainly  do  so. — B.  B.  Lacy,  State  Treas- 
urer, Ealeigh,  N.  C,  April  8,  1918. 

I  think  justice  requires  that  the  amount 
4 


of  compensation  should  not  be  regulated  by 
sex,  but  by  the  amount  of  service  per- 
formed. 

I  believe  the  time  will  come  when  a  wo- 
man doing  the  same  work  as  a  man  in  every 
respect  will  be  paid  the  same. — J.  Bryan 
Grimes,  Secretary  of  State,  Ealeigh,  April 
17,  1918. 

The  proposition  that  compensation  should 
be  measured  by  the  value  and  efficiency  of 
the  service  rendered  rather  than  by  the  sex 
of  the  one  rendering  it,  is  too  axiomatic  to 
need  argument  in  its  favor  with  any  just 
and  reasonable  person. — J.  T.  Joyner,  State 
Superintendent  Public  Instruction,  Raleigh, 
April  20,  1918. 

It  is  elementary  justice  that  there  should 
be  equal  pay  for  equal  service  -regardless  of 
sex.  Especially  is  this  true  as  to  the  teach- 
ing profession,  in  which  as  a  rule  the  women 
are  more  conscientious  and  careful  in  their 
work  than  men. — Walter  Clark,  Chief  Jus- 
tice, Ealeigh,  April  19,  1918. 

Your  letter  received.  In  reply  I  will  say 
that  I  have  long  felt  that  woman  is  at  a 
disadvantage  in  the  battle  of  life  on  account 
of  her  sex.  If  she  performs  a  man 's  work 
with  equal  efficiency  she  should  receive  the 
same  compensation. 

This  is  especially  true  in  respect  to  teach- 
ers. It  is  now  well  established  that  women 
as  a  rule  -are  the  equals  in  all  respects  of 
men  as  teachers. 

When  equally  as  efficient  and  capable  they 
should     receive     as     much     compensation. — 


George   H.   Brown,   Associate   Justice,   Ral- 
eigh, April  30,  1918. 

I  am  heartily  in  favor  of  the  improve- 
ment of  our  schools  and  think  it  will  be 
necessary  to  pay  higher  salaries  to  the 
teachers.  I  also  think  it  is  but  just  and 
right  that  teachers  should  be  paid  the  same 
amount  for  the  same  work  in  quantity  and 
quality  without  regard  to  sex.  I  am  in- 
clined to  think  that  those  in  charge  of  the 
educational  interests  of  the  state  will  have 
to  pay  a  little  more  attention  to  seeing  that 
more  of  the  public  money  raised  by  taxa- 
tion reaches  teachers. — W.  B.  Allen,  Asso- 
ciate Justice,  Raleigh,  April  27,  1918. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  any  one  who 
has  the  interests  of  his  state  at  heart 
should  favor,  a  measure  that  will  tend  to 
improve  our  schools,  and  I  approve  any  plan 
that  will  contribute  to  such  an  end.  The 
education  of  the  people  is  a  matter  of  the 
first  importance,  and,  in  order  to  have  any- 
thing like  a  perfect  educational  system,  the 
state  should  employ  those  well  qualified  to 
teach,  and  provide  for  them  fair  and  ade- 
quate compensation  for  their  services,  al- 
lowing equal  pay  for  equal  work  without 
discrimination  among  the  teachers.  Where 
the  quality  and  quantity  of  the  services  ren- 
dered are  the  same,  I  can  conceive  of  no 
reason  why  a  distinction  should  be  made  as 
to  the  compensation. — P.  D.  Walker,  Asso- 
ciate Justice,  Ealeigh,  May  2,  1918. 

I  am  genuinely  in  favor  of  equal  pay  for 
equal    work,    among    the   teachers    of   North 


Carolina.  The  present  inequitable  system 
oi  higher  pay  for  men  cannot  be  justified 
from  any  standpoint.  Every  element  of 
justice,  right  and  fair  play  is  with  you  in 
your  contentions  and  a  just  people  like  those 
who  live  in  our  good  old  North  Carolina  will 
see  to  it  that  your  demands  shall  be  met. 
If  there  is  any  service  I  can  perform  in 
behalf  of  the  women  teachers  of  North  Caro- 
lina, all  they  will  have  to  do  is  to  ask  me 
and  I  will  gladly  perform  the  service,  what- 
ever it  may  be. — Walter  Murphy,  Speaker 
of  House  of  Representatives,  Salisbury, 
April  30,  1918. 

MINISTERS 

I  note  with  keen  interest  that  the  women 
teachers  of  North  Carolina  are  planning  to 
conduct  a  state-wide  campaign  for  better 
schools,  higher  salaries  and  equal  pay  for 
equal  work. 

Such  a  campaign  should  have  the  gener- 
ous and  sympathetic  support  of  the  fine, 
progressive  citizens  of  our  great  state; 
for  I  am  sure  that  all  agree  that  we  need 
better  schools  and  more  of  them,  and  there 
can  be  no  doubt  in  any  mind  as  to  the  need 
for  more  adequate  salaries.  This  need  is 
especially  urgent  in  our  rural  schools. 

I  am  satisfied  that  the  love  of  justice  in- 
herent in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  North 
Carolinians  will  lead  us  all  to  realize  that 
a  woman  teacher  who  renders  faithful  and 
efficient  service  should  receive  as  large  a 
salary  as  the  man  teacher  who  renders  equal- 
ly faithful  and  efficient  service.  I  agree 
very    thoroughly    with    the    one    who    said: 


"Justice  requires  that  the  amount  of  com- 
pensation should  not  be  regulated  by  sex 
but  by  the  amount  of  service  rendered." 

The  teachers  of  North  Carolina  are  doing 
much  for  the  state.  They  are  moulding  its 
future  to  a  greater  degree  than  most  of  us 
realize.  They  are  doing  big  things  quietly, 
humbly,  unselfishly.  As  a  people  we  must 
stand  behind  them,  we  must  give  them 
worthy  tools  with  which  to  build  the  fine 
fabric  of  our  future  citizenship.  We  must 
support  them  adequately  in  order  that,  with- 
out undue  strain,  they  may  carry  on  the 
essential,  fundamental  tasks  that  we  have 
given  them  to  do. 

Thanking  you  for  giving  me  the  oppor- 
tunity of  speaking  a  work  of  cordial  ap- 
proval of  your  proposed  campaign. — Thomas 
C.  Darst,  Bishop  of  East  Carolina,  Wilming- 
ton, April  19,  1918. 

I  can  but  wish  you  well  in  the  effort  that 
is  being  made  that  justice  may  be  done  the 
women  teachers  of  North  Carolina  in  the 
matter  of  equal  pay  for  equal  work  done. 
There  is  no  reason  in  justice  or  fair  play 
why  a  woman  should  not  get  the  same  pay 
as  a  man  if  she  does  the  same  work  equally 
as  well  as  he  does.  The  old  view  that  the 
head  of  the  house  should  support  the  family, 
naturally,  called  for  special  consideration  to 
be  given  the  man  if  he  was  going  to  be  able 
to  keep  going;  but  all  this  is  being  changed 
with  the  opening  of  all  lines  of  endeavor 
to  women;  so,  inevitably,  there  must  fol- 
low a  new  conception  as  to  a  woman's  wage. 

In    the    new    order,    with    the    changing 


views  and  the  enlarging  field,  you  may  rest 
assured  that  ultimately  justice  will  be  done. 
The  fetters  of  custom  and  the  bondage  of 
tradition  will  give  place  to  the  equality  due 
when  a  better  order  of  democracy  has  ar- 
rived. 

May  your  efforts  aid  in  the  consumma- 
tion so  much  to  be  wished.  Speed  the  day. 
— M.  T.  Plyler,  Pastor  of  M.  E.  Church,  Wil- 
mington, April  22,  1918. 

The  effort  of  the  women  teachers  of  North 
Carolina  to  secure  ' '  equal  pay  for  equal 
work ' '  is  one  to  enlist  the  support  of  every 
lover  of  justice.  If,  everything  taken  into 
consideration,  the  services  rendered  by  wo- 
men are  equal  to  the  services  rendered  by 
men,  there  is  no  just  reason  why  the  pay 
should  not  be  equal. — J.  Clyde  Turner,  Pas- 
tor of  First  Baptist  Church,  Greensboro, 
April  11,  1918. 

Please  let  me  say  that  I  am  in  accord 
with  the  campaign  for  better  schools,  higher 
salaries,  and  equal  pay  for  women  and  men 
for  equal  work. 

Man  and  woman  are  essential  in  school 
training  as  in  home  training.  They  are 
temperamentally  different,  and  in  the  edu- 
cation of  the  young  both  are  necessary  for 
the  best  results.  Society  will  always  de- 
mand women  teachers  as  well  as  men.  Ine- 
quality in  compensation,  as  the  double  stand- 
ard in  morals,  is  a  barbaric  survival  that  has 
no  premise  for  justification  in  a  Christian 
civilization.  I  will  help  you  wage  this  fight 
with  all  my  heart. — E.  L.  Bain,  Pastor  West 


9 


Market    Street    M.    E.    Church,    Greensboro, 
April  17,  1918. 

Your  letter  of  the  16th  inst.  affords  me 
an  opportunity  that  I  gladly  welcome.  With 
all  my  heart  I  '11  lend  a  hand  whenever  I 
can  to  "abolish  prejudice."  I  hate  all  pre- 
judice^— class  prejudice,  national  prejudice, 
race  prejudice,  and  certainly  ' '  sex  preju- 
dice ' '  too. 

And  in  your  proposition  that  "justice 
demands  that  the  salary  of  the  teacher  be 
regulated  not  by  sex  but  the  amount  and 
quality  of  the  service  rendered ' '  I  also  most 
heartily  concur.  Women  do  not  get  justice 
and  they  ought  to  have  it;  teachers  do  not 
get  justice  and  they  ought  to  have  it — and 
most  of  all  women  teachers  do  not  get  jus- 
tice and  I  wish  I  could  do  even  a  little  bit 
to  help  them  to  get  it. 

My  observation  is  that  when  women  teach- 
ers have  paid  living  expenses,  gone  to  teach- 
ers' meetings  and  summer  schools,  as  super- 
intendents expect,  and  perhaps  as  the  law 
requires,  they  must  start  the  next  school 
year  with  nearly  empty  pocketbooks. 

When  women  teach,  and  especially  con- 
tinue to  teach  for  a  term  of  years,  they  un- 
questionably diminish  the  likelihood  of  mar- 
riage, and  as  years  advance  their  tenure  of 
position  becomes  more  uncertain,  and  often, 
after  a  life  of  hard  toil  and  self-renuncia- 
tion, they  approach  old  age  with  the  pros- 
pect of  dependence  and  perhaps  an  old  la- 
dies '  home.  It  is  a  crying  shame,  and 
neither  the  justice  nor  the  manhood  of  the 
state  ought  to  allow  it  to  continue. 


10 


Can  I  further  serve  you  in  pressing  your 
cause?  I'll  do  all  I  can. — N.  C0IU71  Hughes, 
Chaplain  of  State  Farm,  Halifax,  April  24, 
1918. 

I  am  delighted  to  hear  that  the  Avomen 
teachers  of  North  Carolina  are  planning  a 
state-wide  campaign  for  better  schools,  high- 
er salaries,  and  equal  pay  for  equal  work. 
They  have  my  hearty  sympathy  in  this  ef- 
fort. As  an  ardent  lover  and  admirer  of 
the  people  of  my  native  state,  a  people  just- 
ly renowned  for  their  devotion  to  the  old- 
fashioned  standards  of  honesty  and  square 
dealing,  I  feel  sure  of  the  acceptance  by 
them  of  the  principle,  so  self -evidently  just 
and  right,  that  the  amount  of  compensation 
should  not  be  regulated  by  sex,  but  by  the 
amount  of  service  rendered. — Egbert  TV. 
Smith,  Secretary  of  Executive  Committee  of 
Foreign  Missions  Presbyterian  Churches  in 
the  United  States,  Nashville,  Tenn.,  April 
9,  1918. 

I  am  in  hearty  sympathy  with  the  idea 
that  justice  requires  that  the  amount  of 
compensation  should  not  be  regulated  by 
sex,  but  by  the  amount  of  service  rendered. 
I  rejoice  in  every  properly  conducted  move- 
ment that  has  in  view  the  end  of  securing 
equal  pay  for  equal  work. — Walter  L.  Lin- 
gle,  Union  Theological  Seminary,  Eichmond, 
Va.,  May  7,  1918. 

I  am  heartily  in  favor  of  abolishing  the 
discrimination  against  the  women  teachers 
in  our  schools  in  the  matter  of  salary  or 
compensation.     Equal  service  calls  for  equal 

11 


pay.  The  salaries  of  all  our  teachers  should 
be  increased.  But  to  pay  larger  salaries  to 
male  teachers,  simply  because  they  are  men, 
when  there  is  no  difference  in  equipment  and 
capability  and  when  there  is  no  difference 
in  the  amount  of  service  required,  is  rank 
injustice,  and  is  discrimination  against  sex 
which  our  faithful  women  teachers  have  a 
right  to  resent.  I  sympathize  with  them  in 
their  resentment.  They  are  only  asking  for 
a  square  deal,  and  all  fair-minded  people 
should  be  willing  to  give  it  to  them. — Mil- 
ton A.  Barber,  Sector  of  Christ  Church,  Ral- 
eigh, April  8,  1918. 

EDUCATORS 

The  proposition  that  the  amount  of  pay 
for  teaching  should  be  regulated  by  the 
amount  and  quality  of  the  service,  seems 
to  me  to  be  self-evident.  Sex  is  not  a  reason- 
able standard  for  determining  either  the 
amount  or  the  quality  of  service.  Equal  pay 
to  women  for  equal  work  has  had  to  contend 
against  economic  sex  prejudice  and  a  super- 
abundance of  competing  labor.  Both  of 
these  factors  are  being  gradually  eliminated. 

The  pay  of  all  good  teachers  must  be 
raised  or  the  profession  of  teaching  beaten 
to  pieces  on  the  grim  necessity  of  making 
a  living  wage. 

No  other  matter  of  public  policy  is  more 
important  than  this  critical  matter  of  sta- 
bilizing the  profession  of  teaching.  I  am 
glad  that  you  plan  actively  to  arouse  public 
sentiment  in  regard  to  it. — Edward  K.  Gra- 
ham, President  University  of  North  Caro- 
lina, Chapel  Hill,  April  11,  1918. 

12 


There  are  two  propositions  with  reference 
to  the  status  of  women  in  the  life  of  our 
state  and  nation  to  which  I  stand  com- 
mitted : 

1st.  I  believe  that  our  women  citizens 
should  have  the  same  rights  and  privileges 
with  reference  to  suffrage  that  is  -enjoyed 
by  our  men.  If  there  should  be  any  limita- 
tion along  this  line,  it  should  not,  of  course, 
be  based  upon  sex,  but  upon  the  ability  of 
the  individual  to  participate  intelligently. 

2nd.  Simple  fairness  and  justice  de- 
mands that  the  amount  paid  for  a  given 
piece  of  work  should  in  no  way  be  regulated 
by  whether  or  not  the  work  is  done  by  a  man 
or  a  woman.  If  there  be  any  method  of 
estimating  what  a  given  piece  of  work  is 
worth,  the  amount  so  decided  upon  should  be 
paid  for  it.  This  proposition  is  so  thorough-  , 
ly  understood  that  it  needs  no  argument. — 
J.  I.  Foust,  President  of  State  Normal  Col- 
lege, Greensboro,  June  3,  1918. 

I  come  to  think  more  and  more  that  in  re- 
ligion, in  politics,  and  in  social  and  indus- 
trial life  men  and  women  should  be  on  an 
equality.  This  means,  I  think,  that  merely 
because  a  man  is  a  man  and  a  woman  is  a 
woman  there  should  be  no  difference.  Of 
course  some  things  can  be  better  done  by 
men  as  a  class,  and  some  things  by  women 
as  a  class.  But  even  these  things  are  grow- 
ing fewer  as  science,  and  new  inventions  and 
discoveries  following  science,  change  meth- 
ods of  operations;  and  performances  which 
years  gone  by  required  severe  physical  exer- 


13 


tions  now  can  be   done  by  easy  movements 
of  parts  of  delicate  machinery. 

Justice  requires  that  for  equal  service 
equal  wages  should  be  paid,  no  reference  be- 
ing made  to  sex  as  such.  The  wages  of 
teachers  should  be  increased  in  our  state  for 
the  simple  reason  that  the  profession  is  all 
the  time  losing  to  other  professions  men 
and  women,  especially  men,  whose  ability 
and  scholarship  are  necessary  to  make  our 
schools  equal  to  the  very  great  importance 
of  educational  needs  of  our  young  people. 
The  education  of  our  children  is  the  one 
great  outstanding  vitally  important  thing  a 
state  can  do  for  its  future  citizens,  and 
therefore  for  its  own  perpetuation  and 
greatness. — L.  L.  Hobbs,  President  of  Guil- 
ford College,  Guilford  College,  April  24, 
.1918. 

I  am  glad  to  know  that  you  are  under- 
taking a  state-wide  campaign  for  better 
schools  and  better  pay  for  teachers.  Both 
of  these  are  greatly  needed.  The  amount 
of  salary  received  for  any  service,  it  mat- 
ters not  by  whom  rendered,  should  most  cer- 
tainly depend  upon  the  value  of  the  service 
rendered  without  regard  to  race  or  sex. — 
Wm.  J.  Martin,  President  Davidson  College, 
Davidson,   April   18,   1918. 

I  am  delighted  to  have  your  good  letter. 
I  am  convinced  that  a  woman  worker  should 
receive  equal  pay  with  a  man  worker,  pro- 
vided that  they  do  equal  work.  The  equal- 
ity of  the  work  should  be  carefully  tested. 
"Work  consists  not  only  of  the  amount  per- 
formed  but   also   of   the   quality   and   conti- 

14 


nuity  of  the  work.  Unless  the  woman  work- 
er can  do  as  much  work  as  the  man  worker, 
unless  she  can  do  it  as  continuously  and 
intensely  and  with  as  much  enthusiasm  as 
the  man  worker,  her  work  should  not  be 
regarded  as  the  equal  of  the  man  worker.  I 
am  delighted  to  make  this  statement  for  you, 
and  I  hope  that  it  may  serve  you  and  the 
other  good  workers  to  some  effect. — Charles 
L.  Bayer,  Bean  of  Graduate  School  Univer- 
sity of  North  Carolina,  Chapel  Hill,  April 
23,  1918. 

EDITORS 

In  a  certain  high  school  in  this  state  I 
am  told  there  is  a  woman  principal  who  is 
paid  a  salary  of  $80.00  a  month.  Under  her 
is  a  young  man  doing,  of  course,  less  impor- 
tant work,  who  is  receiving  for  his  service 
$100  a  month.  Discrimination  so  senseless 
and  cruel  against  a  capable  and  efficient 
teacher  because  she  is  ' '  only  a  woman  ' '  is 
a  good  reason  for  the  growing  power  of  the 
woman   suffrage  movement  in   this   country. 

I  am  glad  to  lend  my  voice  to  the  propa- 
ganda which  has  for  its  object  the  righting 
of  the  wrong  to  the  womanhood  of  our  state. 
The  compensation  for  service  should  not  be 
regulated  by  sex. 

I  have  heard  the  argument  advanced  that 
men  are  entitled  to  more  pay  for  the  same 
service  than  women  because,  being  the  head 
of  the  household,  their  expenses  are  neces^- 
sarily  greater.  This  is  no  argument  at  all. 
Being  the  head  of  a  household  does  not  en- 
ter into  the  matter.     Salaries   are  supposed 


15 


to  be  compensation  for  service  rendered,  and 
not  a  bonus  for  the  support  of  a  family. 

I  hail  with  joy  the  movement  that  is  on 
for  increasing  the  pay  of  teachers  generally, 
and  while  we  are  engaged  in  the  business 
of  raising  the  teacher's  pay  to  at  least  a 
living  wage,  we  should  also  break  down  the 
sex  barrier,  and  abolish  the  senseless  prac- 
tice of  lifting  the  burdens  from  the  shoulders 
of  the  physically  strong  and  laying  them 
the  heavier  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  phy- 
sically weak,  just  because  they  are  weak. — 
Archibald  Johnson,  Editor  of  Charity  and 
Children,  Thomasville,  April  10,  1918. 

It  seems  to  me  that  no  one  can  dispute  the 
proposition  that  where  a  woman  renders 
service  equal  to  that  given  by  a  man,  she 
should  receive  as  much  pay  as  the  man  re- 
ceives. Of  course,  there  are  some  positions 
in  which  masculine  qualities  and  others  in 
which  feminine  qualities  are  more  impera- 
tively required.  But  in  demanding  ' '  equal 
pay  for  equal  service"  you  seem  to  me  to 
be  in  an  impregnable  position. — Clarence 
Toe,  President  and  Editor  of  Progressive 
Farmer,  Raleigh,  April  24,  1918. 

Replying  to  your  recent  letter  will  say 
that  I  thoroughly  subscribe  to  the  sentiment 
that  women  are  entitled  to  the  same  pay  as 
men  when  they  do  work  of  the  same  effi- 
ciency.— B.  W.  Hai/ivood,  Editor  Neivs  and 
Observer,  Raleigh,  April  26,  1918. 

WOMEN 

It   is  with  a   great   deal   of  pleasure  that 

16 


I  have  learned  that  the  women  teachers  of 
North  Carolina  are  planning  to  conduct  a 
state-wide  campaign  for  tetter  schools, 
higher  salaries  and  equal  pay  for  equal 
work. 

Nature  has  endowed  every  human  being 
with  a  sense  of  justice.  It  is  the  common 
possession  of  humanity,  and  the  more  highly 
educated,  the  more  highly  refined  one  be- 
comes, the  stronger  is  the  sense  of  justice, 
which  was  born  in  us.  It  is  this  sense  of 
justice  which  prompts  the  women  teachers 
of  our  state  to  appeal  to  those  in  authority 
to  base  the  compensation  given  upon  ser- 
vices rendered  rather  than  upon  the  sex 
of  the  individual. 

The  teachers  of  our  state  have  a  very 
grave  responsibility  during  this  national 
crisis,  and  many  of  them,  not  from  choice, 
but  from  sheer  necessity,  have  been  obliged 
to  \mdertake  other  work,  as  their  salaries 
were  not  commensurate  with  the  advance 
in  the  cost  of  living.  Is  it  not  an  injustice 
to  our  highly  equipped  and  cultured  women 
teachers  that  they  receive  less  compensa- 
tion than  do  some  of  the  illiterate  janitors 
in  our  public  schools?  The  janitors  are 
paid  through  vacation  while  the  teachers  re- 
ceive nothing  and  are  expected  to  attend 
summer  school  at  their  own  expense. 

There  is  no  greater  patriotic  service 
which  can  be  rendered  at  this  time  than 
caring  for  the  children  of  our  own  country. 
Upon  them  rests  the  responsibility  of  the 
future  and  they  should  be  as  well  educated 
and  as  well  trained  as  possible.  There  will 
be  need  for  the  best  character  and  the  high- 

37 


est  intelligence  in  our  citizens  to  work  out 
the  problems  following  this  great  world  war. 
Therefore  we  need  to  he  equipped  with  the 
best  teaching  force  the  state  can  command 
to  safeguard  the  character  and  education  of 
our  youth.  With  such  an  incentive  we 
should  not  hesitate  to  select  the  best  teach- 
ers the  country  affords  and  pay  well  for  the 
services  rendered. — Laura  Holmes  Eeilley, 
State  Chairman  North  Carolina  Division 
Woman's  Committee  of  Council  of  Nation- 
al Defense,  Charlotte,  April  19,  1918. 

While  America  is  waging  war  ' '  to  make 
the  world  safe  for  democracy, ' '  those  who 
are  not  on  the  firing  line  must  make  that 
democracy  safe  for  American  children  by 
fighting  the  menace  of  illiteracy  and  its  at- 
tendant evils. 

The  home  and  the  school  are  the  bulwarks 
of  civilization,  and  the  great  future  for 
which  we  are  striving  is  embodied  in  our 
children.  They  must  be  educated,  or  they 
will  not  successfully  cope  with  the  possi- 
bilities that  the  future  will  bring.  The 
teachers  are  the  educators  and  consequent- 
ly the  guardians  of  the  future.  They  are 
indispensable  and  the  highest  estimate 
should  be  placed  on  the  value  of  their  ser- 
vices to  the  state  and  to  the  nation. 

The  only  foundation  on  which  permanent 
democracy  can  be  built  is  justice,  and  jus- 
tice to  all.  Are  we  meting  out  justice  to 
the  women  teachers  of  North  Carolina? 
They  are  efficient  and  faithful,  even  under 
the  sting  of  injustice. 

Is   not  the  service  they  are  rendering  to 

18 


our    state    worthy    of    suitable    recognition? 

Can  we  expect  them  to  teach  our  children 
to  revere  and  uphold  a  democracy  which 
permits  sex-discrimination  in  the  matter  of 
compensation  for  service? 

The  majority  of  the  real  teachers,  those 
who  train  little  children,  are  women,  while 
men  fill  all  the  high  positions.  If  the  exi- 
gencies of  war,  or  other  demands,  call  men 
from  such  positions,  will  women  who  have 
demonstrated  their  ability  to  fill  such  va- 
cancies be  permitted  to  do  so?  "Will  any 
just  man  offer  them  less  compensation  for 
the  same  services  their  predecessors  re- 
ceived? I  cannot  believe  it  of  the  State  of 
North  Carolina.  Can  they  accept  less  pay 
than  is  given  men  and  retain  their  self-re- 
spect? Would  it  not  be  an  admission  of  in- 
feriority which  we  know  is  not  a  fact?  Can 
they  respect  those  who  fix  the  salaries  when 
such  discrimination  is  shown?  They  can- 
not, for  they  know  they  render  as  good 
and  often  better  service  than  men,  and  de- 
serve equal  recognition. 

If  we  desire  -to  retain  the  best  types  of 
womanhood  as  teachers  for  our  children,  we 
must  make  it  ' '  worth  while ' ',  by  giving 
them  ungrudgingly  "equal  pay  for  equal 
work."     This  is  all  they  ask. 

We  must  keep  up  our  schools,  we  must 
have  the  best  teachers  for  our  children.  To 
secure  and  keep  the  best  we  must  give  them 
' '  a  square  deal ' '.  Other  occupations  are 
calling  to  them  and  offering  alluring  in- 
ducements, yet  our  women  linger  in  the 
schoolrooms  because  they  are  women  and 
love   to   train   the   children.     Let   us   arouse 

19 


before  it  is  too  late,  raise  their  salaries  pro- 
portionate at  least  to  the  increased  cost  of 
living,  and  assure  them  that  in  their  chosen 
profession  which  they  honor  they  shall  be 
rewarded,  not  according  to  sex  but  accord- 
ing to  ability  and  service. 

Give  the  women  teachers  a  square  deal! — ■ 
Sallie  Southall  Cotten,  State  Chairman  N. 
C.  Division,  General  Federation  of  Women's 
Clubs,  April,  1918. 

I  am  very  much  interested  in  your  move- 
ment of  "equal  pay  for  equal  work." 
' '  Work  is  work, ' '  in  the  words  of  Secretary 
McAdoo,  ' '  and  justice  demands  that  there  be 
but  one  price  for  one  and  the  same  work. ' ' 
No  reasonable  person  would  think  it  just 
that  the  authorities  of  a  municipality  regu- 
late the  price  of  bread  by  ruling  that  a 
certain  loaf  of  bread  be  sold  by  a  man  bak- 
er for  fifteen  cents  but  by  a  woman  baker 
for  ten  cents,  when  the  only  difference  in 
the  bread  of  the  two  bakers  is  that  the  wo- 
man makes  and  bakes  her  bread  under  more 
sanitary  conditions.  What  would  we  think 
of  the  democracy  of  the  United  States  if 
Congress  had  fixed  the  price  of  a  bushel  of 
wheat  at  $2.50  when  sold  by  a  man  farmer, 
but  at  $1.50  when  sold  by  a  woman  farmer? 
And  yet  is  it  not  true  that  discriminations 
similar  to  these  are  being  made  in  North 
Carolina  by  the  legal  representatives  of  the 
people  who  fix  the  salaries  of  the  men  and 
women  teachers?  I  am  told  by  those  who 
have  investigated  the  subject,  that  men,  be- 
cause they  are  men,  are  being  paid  from 
30  to  80  per  cent,  more  than  women  for  the 

20 


same  work  in  our  schools.  This  is  not  fair, 
nor  do  I  believe  that  the  argument  of  ' '  sup- 
ply and  demand ' '  answers  the  question.  It 
merely  serves  to  becloud  the  issue.  If  this 
argument  has  had  any  merit  in  the  past,  it 
has  certainly  none  in  the  present  when 
Dr.  Claxton,  Commissioner  of  Education,  is 
calling  on  the  married  teachers  to  attend 
summer  schools,  and  as  a  patriotic  duty 
help   supply   this   overwhelming   demand. 

Wishing  you  success  in  your  undertaking, 
I  am, — Minnie  Mclver  Brown,  Director  of 
State  Normal  College,  May  10,  1918. 

PHYSICIANS 

Eeplying  to  your  letter  of  the  22nd,  for- 
warded me  here  from  my  former  home  in 
North  Carolina,  I  delight  to  say  that  I  am 
in  entire  sympathy  and  accord  with  the  pur- 
poses which  it  announces.  Since  I  have 
been  interested  in  school  work,  which  has 
been  for  quite  a  number  of  years,  I  have 
not  been  able  to  see  why  a  woman  should 
not  be  paid  just  as  high  a  salary  for  teach- 
ing as  should  a  man.  And  when  I  remem- 
ber that  to  her  teaching  she  adds,  by  her 
wromanly  precepts  and  example,  all  of  those 
lessons  which  are  inherent  in  the  mother  na- 
ture, and  which,  if  followed,  produce  the 
cleanest  and  sturdiest  manhood,  I  feel  that 
she  ought  to  have  even  greater  considera- 
tion, and  wonder  why  we,  who  know  these 
things,  have  not  long  since  accorded  to  her 
a  righteous  due.  There  is  no  truer  postu- 
late than  that  a  just  recognition  of  the  val- 
ue  of  women  as  teachers   will  make   better 


21 


the  schools,  and  no  sounder  doctrine  than 
that  in  the  formative  period  of  life  nothing 
is  so  surely  a  moulder  of  character  as  daily 
contact  with  womanly  virtues.  The  value 
of  its  influence  is  priceless,  and  certainly 
deserves  all  that  the  state  can  pay.  I  re- 
gret, that  by  reason  of  my  absence  from 
North  Carolina,  I  am  not  able  to  give  prac- 
tical help  to  furthering  this  merited  conten- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  women  teachers  of 
our  state.  — Thomas  S.  McMullan,  Captain 
M.  E.  C,  V.  S.  A.,  Fort  Morgan,  Ala.,  April 
28,  1918. 

I  congratulate  you  on  your  interest  in  in- 
creasing the  salaries  of  teachers  and  in  plac- 
ing women  teachers  on  the  same  salary  ba- 
sis as  men  teachers. 

I  don 't  see  how  any  teacher  can  teach 
with  the  average  salary  that  teachers  are 
getting  at  this  time  and  pay  the  prices  of 
board  that  are  demanded  of  them.  They 
do  not  get  half  what  a  negro  laborer  gets 
and  it  seems  to  me  that  they  at  least  ought 
to  be  worth  as  much  as  the  ordinary  farm 
hand.  Of  course  this  means  that,  unless  the 
salaries  are  raised  and  raised  sufficiently  to 
make  it  worth  while,  they  are  going  to  quit 
teaching,  and  no  one  can  blame  them.  I 
can't  imagine  how  they  have  held  out  so 
long. 

Everybody  that  knows  anything  about 
schools,  knows  that  as  a  rule  the  women 
teachers  do  at  least  as  good  work  if  not  bet- 
ter than  the  men,  unless  it  could  possibly 
be  in  the  handling  of  the  larger  boys,  and 
in  this  instance  the  tactful  woman  can  beat 


22 


a  man  hands  down.  I  sincerely  trust  that 
your  efforts  along  these  two  lines  will  suc- 
ceed to  your  entire  satisfaction  and  to  the 
satisfaction  and  benefit  of  the  people  of 
our  state. — L.  B.  McBrayer,  Superintendent 
of  the  North  Carolina  Sanatorium,  Sanator- 
ium, April  20,  1918. 

I  have  long  felt  that  all  of  our  teachers 
were  scandalously  underpaid,  women  as  well 
as  men.  Moreover,  with  women  doing  the 
majority  of  the  teaching  they  deserve  the 
same  salaries  which  the  men  get.  If  we 
paid  out  larger  salaries  to  the  teachers  of 
children  between  seven  and  fourteen  and 
got  the  most  experienced  expert  teachers, 
we  wTould  not  have  much  trouble  after  that 
time  with  our  youths'  education.  I  recog- 
nize the  difficulty  in  war  times  of  increasing 
the  teachers'  salaries,  but  I  feel  it  is  not 
only  justice  to  the  teachers,  but  what  is 
much  more  to  the  point,  a  necessity  to  the 
children  growing  up  and  to  the  future  gen- 
erations.— Charles  L.  Minor,  Asheville,  April 
19,  1918. 

I  do  not  see  how  anyone  who  has  the  best 
interest  of  his  state  at  heart  can  oppose 
' '  better  schools ' ',  which  means  ' '  higher 
salaries  with  equal  pay  for  equal  work". 
Justice  certainly  demands  that  the  salary  of 
the  teacher  should  be  regulated  by  the  quan- 
tity  and   quality   of   the    services   rendered. 

The  nervous  work  of  teaching  demands 
long  and  comfortable  vacations,  which  again 
means  better  salaries.  Many  women  have 
the  same  living  expenses  and  the  same  heavy 


23 


responsibilities  as  men,  and  they  should  re- 
ceive salaries  that  meet  those  demands. 

At  this  crucial  time  when  our  women 
must  take  the  places  of  the  drafted  men, 
I  think  it  very  necessary  that  every  encour- 
agement should  be  offered  them  to  perfect 
their  training,  experience  and  business  hab- 
its, and  I  know  of  no  stronger  incentive 
than  an  adequate  salary. 

Assuring  you  of  my  deep  interest  in  this 
movement. — J.  C.  Watkins,  Winston-Salem, 
May  2,  1918. 

BUSINESS  MEN 

My  attention  has  been  directed  to  the 
fact  that  the  women  teachers  of  North  Caro- 
lina are  planning  for  a  state-wide  campaign 
for  better  schools,  better  salaries,  and  equal 
pay  for  equal  work. 

As  one  deeply  interested  in  all  which  con- 
cerns this  noble  band  of  women  workers  in 
our  good  state,  I  wish  them  Godspeed  in 
this  undertaking.  In  this  time  of  our  na- 
tion 's  greatest  crisis,  women  have  responded, 
as  they  always  have,  in  such  a  way  that 
we  men  take  off  our  hats  as  they  pass  us 
on  the  road  to  patriotic  sacrifices.  They 
are  doing  men 's  work  and  doing  it  well,  as 
they  do  everything  they  undertake,  and  the 
day  of  discrimination  in  compensation 
should  be  a  thing  of  the  past.  ' '  To  the  vic- 
tor belongs  the  spoils ' '  should  apply  with 
equal  force  to  the  workers  who  produce  the 
work. 

I   have   in   my   own   office   three   of   these 

chosen  vessels  and  I  may  say,  with  modesty, 

that    I   practice    what    I    advocate   above. — 

Walker  Taylor,  Wilmington,  April  20,  1918. 

24 


I  wish  to  say  that  I  am  thoroughly  of  the 
opinion  that  women  should  receive  the  same 
pay  as  men  for  equal  work,  and  especially 
I  think  there  should  be  a  more  equitable  ad- 
justment of  the  salaries  of  teachers. 

It  will  be  necessary,  however,  to  approach 
this  ideal  more  •  slowly  than  wre  would  like 
because  of  the  law  of  supply  and  demand. 
In  the  past  there  have  been  more  women 
available  for  positions  than  there  were 
places  to  offer,  and  competition  had  an  in- 
fluence. 

In  future  it  would  seem  that  conditions 
will  be  different,  because  it  will  become 
necessary  for  women  to  do  a  great  deal  of 
wrork  which  has  heretofore  been  done  ex- 
clusively by  men,  and  as  soon  as  the  field 
for  women  is  broadened  the  overcrowding 
in  a  few  professions  and  occupations  will 
be  to  a  great  extent  avoided. 

Today  the  Tide  Water  Power  Company  is 
advertising  for  young  women  to  take  the 
position  of  conductors  on  the  traction  lines, 
to  perform  the  same  duties  and  receive  the 
same  pay  as  men;  and  we  feel  that  this,  if 
the  opportunity  is  utilized,  is  a  practical 
step  in  the  direction  that  you  have  indi- 
cated.— Hugh  MacEue,  Wilmington,  April 
24,  1918. 

Eeferring  to  yours  of  April  23rd,  I  am 
very  much  of  the  opinion  that  the  school 
teachers  of  North  Carolina  are  entitled  to 
higher  salaries,  and  I  see  no  reason  why 
there  should  be  any  discrimination  on  ac- 
count of  sex  for  like  work  and  service. — 
Geo.  A.  Eolderness,  Tarboro,  April  24,  1918. 


25 


ATTORNEYS   AT   LAW 

I  know  of  no  greater  injustice  than  the 
present  habit  in  North  Carolina  of  paying 
women  teachers  who  do  the  same  work  as 
men  teachers,  less  money  than  is  paid  the 
men.  I  subscribe  to  the  doctrine  of  equal 
opportunity  for  all  and  of  equal  pay  to  all 
who  do  equal  work.  The  woman  who  cooks 
should  be  paid  the  same  amount  of  money 
as  a  man  cook  is  paid,  provided  she  cooks 
as  much  as  he  does,  and  as  well;  and  so 
through  all  professions  and  callings  of  life. 
Women  teachers  should  be  paid  the  same 
salaries  men  teachers  are  paid  if  they  do 
the  same  grade  and  amount  of  teaching 
that  men  do. — Francis  D.  Winston,  Wind- 
sor, April  20,  1918. 

I  have  never  yet  had  any  argument  pre- 
sented to  me,  nor  have  I  ever  seen  any  rea- 
son why  a  lady  teacher,  a  lady  stenographer 
or  a  lady  bookkeeper  should  not  receive 
equal  compensation  for  the  same  service 
rendered  as  a  man,  simply  because  he  is  a 
male  instead  of  a  female  person. 

Please,  however,  note  the  qualification 
"for  the  same  service  rendered." 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  are  many  in- 
stances and  many  cases  where  the  lady  teach- 
er, by  reason  of  her  natural  advantages, 
should  command  more  compensation  than 
her  male  competitor. 

It  is  my  profound  conviction  that  in  all 
professions  or  occupations  the  compensation 
for  service  should  not  be  regulated  by  sex, 
but  by  the  ' '  amount  and  quality  of  service 
rendered. ' ' 

26 


Let  me  further  add  that  I  have  never 
been  a  believer  in  universal  male  suffrage. 
I  think  that  suffrage  should  be  regulated 
by  both  an  educational  and  a  tax-paying 
qualification,  and  when  that  time  comes  (as 
I  believe  it  will)  I  am  also  a  believer  in 
granting  the  right  of  suffrage  to  the  wo- 
manhood of  the  land. 

The  home  is  the  ' '  author  and  finisher ' ' 
of  our  Christian  civilization.  To  woman  is 
due  everything  good  that  emanates  from  the 
home.  If  she  is  capable  of  rearing,  teach- 
ing and  developing  the  citizenship  of  the 
land  from  childhood  to  manhood  and  wo- 
manhood, she  is  certainly  capable  of  caring 
for  them  in  every  other  branch  of  life. 

I  wish  you  success  in  your  most  laudable 
campaign  for  a  just  and  fair  compensation 
for  your  sex. — Jas.  D.  McNeill,  Mayor,  Fay- 
etteville,  April  25,  1918. 

In  reply  to  your  letter  I  will  say  that  I 
wish  you  a  high  degree  of  success  in  your 
campaign  for  better  schools,  higher  salaries, 
and  equal  pay  for  equal  work.  If  I  under- 
stand the  latter  proposition  correctly,  it 
means  that  a  woman  teacher  shall  receive 
the  same  compensation  that  a  man  teacher 
would  receive  for  the  same  work.  I  don 't 
see  how  the  fairness  of  this  proposition  is 
open  to  controversy.  I  believe  the  proper 
criterion  for  pay  for  any  work  is  the  value 
of  the  service  rendered.  I  suppose  the  in- 
equality in  pay  between  men  teachers  and 
women  teachers  is  a  relic  of  those  days  when 
the  teacher,  in  order  to  gain  the  respect  of 
his  pupils,  had  to  assert  his  physical  prow- 

27 


ess  over  all  comers.  The  conditions  which 
justified  the  custom  having  been  discontin- 
ued, there  is  now  no  semblance  of  justice 
in  continuing  the  rule.  The  only  defense 
of  the  system  that  I  have  ever  heard  ad- 
vanced is  that  a  man  usually  has  a  family 
to  support  and  for  that  reason  ought  to  be 
paid  more  money,  but  in  no  other  line  of 
work  have  I  ever  known  of  the  rule  prevail- 
ing.— Junius  D.  Grimes,  Director  of  State 
Normal  College,  Washington,  April  17,  1918. 

It  gives  me  very  great  pleasure  to  say  a 
word  in  behalf  of  the  women  teachers  in 
North  Carolina.  Women  teachers  ought  to 
receive  a  higher  salary  for  the  same  class  of 
work  than  the  man  teacher,  for  the  reason 
that  the  woman  is  a  natural-born  instructor 
and  is  really  superior  to  her  brother,  the  man 
teacher.  The  sooner  the  women  take  charge 
of  the  schools,  the  municipal  governments 
and  many  other  state  agencies,  so  much  the 
better  it  will  be  for  the  state.  The  present 
pay  for  teachers  is  a  disgrace.  In  our  grad- 
ed school  the  teachers  are  all  women  except 
the  superintendent  and  they  do  not  get 
enough  salary  to  keep  soul  and  body  to- 
gether. There  are  enough  women  of  ability 
in  this  school  to  fill  any  position  in  North 
Carolina.  But  the  men  happen  to  hold  all 
the  places  worth  having  in  the  schools. 

I  was  in  Michigan  University  with  1500 
young  women  and  from  that  day  I  have 
been  for  woman  suffrage.  I  there  learned 
that  women  are  the  equal  of  man  in  most 
respects  and  his  superior  in  many.  I  saw 
women  leading  their  classes  in  almost  every 

28 


department  of  that  great  university.  I 
thank  you  for  the  opportunity  to  give  this 
expression.  —  ZeTa  V.  TValser,  Lexington, 
April,  1918. 

I  am  very  glad  to  know  that  the  ' '  -women 
teachers  of  the  state  are  planning  a  state- 
wide campaign  for  better  schools,  higher  sal- 
aries and  equal  pay  for  equal  work. ' '  I  am 
heartily  in  accord  with  the  purpose  of  this 
campaign  and  am  quite  sure  we  can  hope  for 
good  results  from  such  an  organized  effort. 

I  have  felt  for  sometime  that  the  teachers 
of  the  state  are  too  poorly  paid  for  the  ear- 
nest and  unselfish  work  they  are  doing;  and 
I  firmly  believe  in  the  proposition  of  equal 
pay  for  equal  work.  It  is  only  a  matter  of 
justice  that  the  women  be  paid  as  much  as 
the  men  are  paid  for  the  same  amount  and 
quantity  of  work,  and  sex  prejudice  should 
not  be  allowed  to  enter  at  all.  The  women 
can  correct  this  injustice  when  they  make  up 
their  minds  to  do  so ;  their  opportunity  is  at 
hand. 

That  we  need  better  schools  does  not  admit 
of  argument. 

I  hope  your  campaign  much  success  and  I 
will  be  glad  to  help  speed  the  movement 
along  as  much  as  I  can. — Claudius  Dockery, 
Troy,  May  4,  1918. 

I  take  pleasure  in  sending  my  views  upon 
the  subject  of  woman  's  work  and  compensa- 
tion therefor. 

I  have  never  had  any  sort  of  patience  with 
the  big  mercantile  houses  paying  a  man 
twice  as  much  salary  for  the  same  kind  of 
work  as  a  woman  and  paying  the  woman  a 

29 


small  salary — simply  because  she  is  a  woman. 

I  have  never  had  any  patience  with  paying 
a  teacher  who  may  be  a  man  a  much  larger 
salary  than  a  woman  who  is  doing  work  in 
the  same  school  of  the  same  or  similar  char- 
acter as  well  and  perhaps  better  than  the  man 
teacher  does  his  work.  The  only  reason  for 
the  difference  in  salary  is  the  fact  that  the 
one  is  a  man  and  the  other  is  a  woman. 

The  salary  of  the  teacher  should  be  fixed 
by  the  amount  and  quality  of  service  render- 
ed and  by  that  standard  alone.  The  sex  of 
the  teacher  should  have  absolutely  nothing  to 
do  with  the  salary  paid  the  teacher.  As  a 
matter  of  justice  this  alone  should  be  the 
basis  of  salaries  paid  to  teachers. — C.  H.  Me- 
bane,  Ex-State  Supt.  Public  Instruction  of 
North  Carolina,  and  Director  of  State  Nor- 
mal College,  Newton,  April  18,  1918. 

Replying  to  your  letter  of  April  16,  I  beg 
to  advise  that  I  will  be  only  too  glad  to  assist 
you  in  any  way  possible  in  your  state-wide 
campaign  for  better  schools,  higher  salaries, 
and  equal  pay  for  equal  work.  We  all  know 
of  the  splendid  work  done  by  the  lady,  teach- 
ers in  North  Carolina.  To  my  mind  it  is  lit- 
tle less  than  an  outrage  that  those  in  au- 
thority force  the  lady  teachers  to  accept  a 
salary  less  than  is  paid  to  those  of  the  oppo- 
site sex.  I  firmly  believe  that  if  the  lady 
teachers  in  North  Carolina  would  abandon 
the  school  work,  that  our  schools  would  be 
hopelessly  lacking  in  efficient  work.  If  this 
be  true,  there  can  be  no  argument  against 
recognizing  their  valuable  services  and  pay- 
ing them  a  sum  equal  to  that  paid  to  the 
men  teachers. 

30 


If  at  any  time  I  can  help  you  in  any  way, 
do  not  hesitate  to  call  on  me. — A.  A.  Whit- 
ener,  Hickory,  April  23,  1918. 

I  am  in  hearty  sympathy  with  the  state- 
wide campaign  which  is  being  planned  by 
the  women  teachers  of  North  Carolina  for 
better  schools,  higher  salaries  and  equal  pay 
for  equal  work.  If  North  Carolina  is  to  be- 
come the  great  state  that  we  have  a  right 
to  expect,  she  must  have  better  schools.  The 
waste  caused  by  ignorance  is  enormous  and 
must  be  eliminated  if  we  are  to  keep  pace 
with  our  sister  states. 

The  most  important  thing  about  a  school 
is  the  teacher  and,  while  the  teacher  is  will- 
ing to  make  great  sacrifices  for  the  profes- 
sion, we  cannot  in  reason  expect  the  best 
work  without  adequate  compensation.  To 
have  the  best  schools  we  must  have  the  best 
teachers  and  we  must  have  higher  salaries 
if  we  are  to  hold  and  continue  to  attract  to 
the  profession  the  best  talent  of  the  young 
womanhood  and  manhood  of  the  state. 

Most  of  the  teaching  in  North  Carolina 
is  done  by  the  woman  and  without  her  our 
school  system  would  be  practically  non-ex- 
istent. No  sound  argument  can  be  advanced 
for  paying  the  woman  teacher  less  than  the 
man  teacher,  when  she  does  the  same  work. 
For  many  grades  the  woman  is  incompara- 
bly superior  and  does  a  work  that  man  can- 
not do. 

We  are  confidently  looking  forward  to 
that  brighter  day  wmen  woman  shall  receive 
full  justice  and  her  work  be  fairly  rewarded, 
and  when  the  schools  of  North  Carolina  shall 


31 


be   equal   to  the  best   in  any,  state. — A.  M. 
Scales,  Greensboro,  April  26,  1918. 

I  am  unqualifiedly  in  favor  of  paying  the 
women  teachers  in  this  state  the  same  sal- 
aries which  the  men  receive  where  the  work 
is  the  same;  if  there  is  a  discrimination  on 
account  of  sex,  the  best  and  truest  senti- 
ment in  this  state  should  correct  it  at  once. 
I  know  from  experience  and  the  great  inter- 
est I  have  always  taken  in  our  public  school 
system  in  this  state,  that  the  most  valuable 
and  most  useful  teachers  as  a  class  are  our 
enthusiastic  and  unselfish  women.- — John  H. 
Kerr,  Superior  Court  Judge  of  the  Third 
Judicial  District,  Warrenton,  April  21,  1918. 

No  single  utterance  declaratory  of  a  great 
principle  has  attracted  more  attention  in  the 
last  century  than  Mr.  Wilson 's  declaration 
that  ' '  we  are  in  this  war  to  make  the  world 
safe  for  democracy. ' '  It  was  a  clarion  call 
to  the  hosts  of  liberty-loving,  freedom-seek- 
ing people  throughout  the  world. 

While  our  soldiers  are  fighting  upon  the 
battlefields  of  France  to  fulfill  this  hope  and 
aspiration,  it  devolves  upon  us  at  home  to 
educate  all  the  people  so  that  democracy 
itself  may  be  made  safe  to  rule  the  world. 
Outside  of  the  influence  of  the  Christian 
religion,  nothing  is  so  important  in  this 
great  work  as  thorough  education.  In  the 
educational  work  of  North  Carolina  the  wo- 
men are  doing  by  far  the  greater  part.  As 
their  sisters  in  France  are  working  like 
slaves  in  munition  and  armament  factories 
in  order  that  the  war  may  be  continued  to 
a    successful    end,    so    are    the    women    of 

32 


this  state  giving  their  all  to  educate  the 
youth  of  the  land.  Indeed,  it  may  be  truth- 
fully said  of  them  that  they  are  ' '  over- 
worked ' '  and  ' '  underpaid. ' '  They  are  not 
only  underpaid  for  services  actually  per- 
formed, but  are  discriminated  against  on  ac- 
count of  their  sex  where  equal  labor  is  per- 
formed. Now  that  the  civilized  governments 
of  the  earth  have  recognized  woman  as  the 
equal  of  man,  and  twenty  states  of  this  Un- 
ion have  granted  to  her  equal  privileges  and 
rights  before  the  law,  is  it  not  high  time 
that  we  should  at  least  be  just  to  the  wo- 
men? Vance  once  tersely  said,  "The  horse 
that  pulls  the  plow  should  eat  the  fodder ' '. 
Shall  we  not  with  equal  justice  now  say  that 
the  woman  who  does  the  work  shall  have 
the  pay,  and  that,  too,  in  the  same  propor- 
tion as  men  are  paid  where  the  work  is  in 
all  respects  similar  and  as  efficient? 

I  hope  and  expect  to  see  the  time  come  in 
North  Carolina,  and  that  very  soon,  when  all 
teachers  will  receive  better  compensation  for 
the  fine  work  they  are  doing.  And  while  we 
are  fighting  to  establish  justice  and  equality 
among  the  peoples  of  the  world,  let  us  not 
forget  that  women  are  equally  entitled  to 
share  the  blessings  flowing  from  a  world 
made  safe  for  democracy  and  a  democracy 
made  safe  for  the  world. — A.  L.  Brooks, 
Greensboro,  May  6,  1918. 

If  any  discrimination  is  to  be  made  in  the 
pay  of  men  and  women  for  the  same  grade 
and  kind  of  work,  done  equally  as  well  by 
one  as  the  other,  it  should,  in  my  opinion, 
be  in  favor  of  the  women.     Certainly  I  can 

33 


see  no  reason  why  it  should  be  against  them. 
Both  justice  and  fair  play  demand  that  they 
be  given  a  status  equal  with  men  in  all 
kinds  of  work.  Of  course,  if  women  had 
the  right  to  vote  they  would  quickly  secure 
that  equality,  because  they  would  then  have 
the  power.  But  because  they  have  not  now 
that  right  is  no  reason  why  such  equality 
should  not  be  accorded  them  as  a  matter  of 
justice  and  right. 

It  was  for  that  reason  that  the  Eepubli- 
can  party  at  its  recent  convention  unani- 
mously adopted  as  a  part  of  its  platform 
the  following :  "5.  We  heartily  favor 
better  pay  for  all  our  public  school  teachers 
and  declare  that  there  should  be  no  discrimi- 
nation in  the  pay  of  teachers  of  equal  grade, 
whether  male  or  female. ' ' 

That  resolution  was  unanimously  reported 
by  the  Committee  on  Platform  and  Eesolu- 
tions  and  was  adopted  with  equal  unanimity 
and  enthusiasm  by  the  convention. 

I  need  not  tell  you  that  it  has  my  hearty 
approval  and  that  I  shall  be  glad  to  aid  in 
any  way  I  can  in  securing  such  equality  in 
the  pay  of  teachers  and  of  women  engaged 
in  all  sorts  of  work.  Wherever  they  can  do 
the  same  work  as  well  as  men,  they  should 
in  my  opinion  receive  the  same  pay  that  men 
receive  for  that  work.  If  any  one  can  give 
a  reason  why  this  should  not  be  done,  I 
should  like  to  hear  it. — Wm.  P.  Bynum, 
Greensboro,  April  23,  1918. 

I  wish  to  say  that  I  am  most  heartily  in 
favor  of  better  pay  for  our  teachers.  It  is 
my  opinion  that  the  teachers  of  North  Caro- 

34 


lina  are  the  poorest  paid,  considering  the 
very  high  character  of  services  rendered,  of 
any  other  class. 

As  to  the  women  teachers  of  the  state  I 
desire  to  say  that  in  my  opinion  they  have 
rendered  the  state  a  service  that  could  not 
have  been  rendered  by  the  men  of  the  state, 
and  I  have  never  been  able  to  understand 
why  they  should  not  have,  for  the  same  kind 
of  work,  performed  with  equal  if  not  su- 
perior ability,  the  same  pay  as  men.  I  am 
sure  that  the  time  will  soon  arrive  when  our 
people  will  see  the  justice  of  the  request  on 
the  part  of  the  women  teachers  of  the  state 
for  equal  pay  with  men  for  the  same  grade 
of  services  and  grant  the  request. — Walter 
E.  Brock,  Wadesboro,  April  27,  1918. 

I  am  heartily  in  favor  of  the  movement 
for  better  schools  and  higher  salaries  for 
teachers  in  our  North  Carolina  schools.  I 
do  not  believe  women  teachers  should  be  dis- 
criminated against  in  the  matter  of  salaries, 
but  am  in  favor  of  paying  them  equal  sal- 
aries with  men  when  all  the  circumstances 
justify  it. — S.  M.  Gattis,  Hillsboro,  April 
24,  191S. 

I  am  thoroughly  in  accord  with  the  pro- 
posed state-wide  campaign  for  better 
schools,  higher  salaries  and  equal  pay  for 
equal  work.  I  do  not  see  why  there  should 
be  any  sex  prejudice  in  North  Carolina  with 
reference  to  this  matter,  so  far  as  the 
schools  are  concerned,  and  do  not  think  that 
many  of  our  people  are  against  equal  pay 
for  equal  work.  I  believe  that  justice  de- 
mands that  the  salary  of  a  teacher  be  regu- 

35 


lated  not  by  sex  but  by  the  amount  and  the 
quality  of  the  services  rendered.  I  see  no 
reason  why  a  woman  should  not  be  paid  the 
same  as  a  man,  if  she  performs  her  work  in 
an  equally  satisfactory  manner. — Geo.  M. 
Rose,  Fayetteville,  April  24,  1918. 

The  death  of  my  father,  Mr.  W.  D.  Pru- 
den,  has  caused  this  delayed  acknowledg- 
ment of  yours  of  the  15th  inst.  to  him. 
Were  he  living  I  am  sure  he  would  be  in 
sympathy  and  accord  with  the  ideas  ex- 
pressed in  your  letter,  as  I  certainly  am. 
The  time  has  come  for  a  change  and  if  there 
is  anything  I  can  do  to  aid  in  the  move- 
ment, it  will  be  a  pleasure  for  me  to  be  of 
service. — J.  N.  Pruden,  Edenton,  April  22, 
1918. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  proposition  you 
mention  is  so  self-evident  that  it  needs  no 
argument  to  convince  a  reasonable  person. 

The  amount  and  quality  of  service  ren- 
dered is  the  only  test  that  ought  to  be  ap- 
plied and  it  matters  not  whether  the  teacher 
be  a  man  or  woman,  there  is  no  valid  argu- 
ment for  the  position  that  one  should  re- 
ceive more  salary  than  the  other,  under  sim- 
ilar circumstances. 

You  may  rest  assured  that. I  am  one  of 
those  who  believe  that  compensation  should 
be  measured  by  the  value  of  the  service  ren- 
dered.— W.  F.  Taylor,  Goldsboro,  May  15, 
1918. 


36 


Photomount 
Pamphlet 

Binder 
GaylorS  Bros. 

Makers 
Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

pat,  JAW  21,1908 


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